Knowledge, faith, and belief

[Guest guest]

 

Gummuluru Murthy [gmurthy]

Wednesday, August 09, 2000 7:37 AM

advaitin

Re: Knowledge, faith, and belief

 

snip.....

 

During my travels in India during the early summer, I spent sometime

at Hrishikesh at KailAsa Ashram. I had the darshan of the

ManDaleshwar and we spent some time discussing the Isha upanishad.

One general advice he gave me is: improve your knowledge of sanskrit

and study the shankara-bhAShyAs in the original. The english or

other language translations for some of the sanskrit words can lead

you astray.

 

I think it is a very valuable advice.

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

-----

 

Namaste Murthyji.

 

Thank you for your many enlightening posts and sharing of wisdom. Sanskrit

is indeed a beautiful, precise, and a profound language in which to

communicate deep wisdom and truth. It is quite likely indeed that some or

even much meaning is lost at times in translations from Sanskrit to English.

The advice to learn Sanskrit is valuable advice for those who wish to learn

Sanskrit and understand the original texts. Many Self-Realized Sages of the

past used Sanskrit as a medium of their expression. So the advice of the

ManDaleshwar seems appropriate.

 

Still, any impression that leads one to believe that learning Sanskrit is

necessary for spiritual growth and Realization is quite misleading.

 

Learning Sanskrit has nothing to do with Self-Realization.

 

To communicate profound truths any language will do! English is quite

adequate for the job! Where there is the experience of Truth and Self, the

words follow like obedient servants. In fact, for those seeking intensely to

Know and Realize their true and original and primal state, the advice to

learn Sanskrit might be quite irrelevant. Sanskrit, or any other language

must be mastered through the mind. The Self is Realized by seeing the

unreality of the mind, by absorbing the mind into the Heart and Realization

of Self as Pure Consciousness. When the mind disappears, so does Sanskrit or

any other language, the culture one is born into as well as any and all

conditioning and identification. The whole universe appears as a shadow of

the Self, so what can be said of a particular language, culture, etc. These

are shadows of even shadows. How much importance should we give them on the

spiritual path. Well, perhaps the answer is, "As much as you like - it is up

to you."

 

Let us be clear about this. No particular language, cultural heritage,

religious background, reading of certain scriptures, or texts is *required*

for Self-Realization. What is needed always is the Direct Knowledge of the

Self through meditation, self-enquiry, and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Language and

culture themselves are layers from which identification eventually is

withdrawn. All these things appear in consciousness. Therefore to see the

pure state prior to all language and thought is simplest. I will pass this

on to a as well. Thank you.

 

Love to all

Harsha

[Guest guest]

Hi Harsha:

I completely agree with you. "Truth" has no preference for a

language. Sanskrit is a beautiful language and in my yoga studies

learning level 1 was a requirement. It was satisfying to my mind

when I was able to read something in Sanskrit and for those who were

truly interested it could be an uplifting experience. However, it

can also be a lifetime journey and does not lead one to the "heart".

For some it is dharma as we have all benefited from those who have

been able to explain the Upanishads, Vedas, and other sacred

scriptures. I will always be grateful people that those such as

David Frawley learned Sanskrit especially with regard to my studies

in Vedic Astrology, Yoga and Ayurveda. However, none of those

studies are more impactful on the journey towards self than books

that have been read in English. The books on the talks of Ramana

Maharshi, the translations of Rumi, the works of Gary Zucov, Andrew

Cohen and Ram Dass all speak Truth. The key lies in "being" and

silence has no language presence as far as I know.

You are a gem, Mr. Harsha of the River of Compassion.

Love,

Linda

>Thank you for your many enlightening posts and sharing of wisdom.

>Sanskrit>.is indeed a beautiful, precise, and a profound language in

which to>communicate deep wisdom and truth. It is quite likely indeed

that some or>even much meaning is lost at times in translations from

Sanskrit to >English.>The advice to learn Sanskrit is valuable advice

for those who wish to >learn>Sanskrit and understand the original

texts. Many Self-Realized Sages of >the>past used Sanskrit as a

medium of their expression. So the advice of the>ManDaleshwar seems

appropriate.>Still, any impression that leads one to believe that

learning Sanskrit is>necessary for spiritual growth and Realization

is quite misleading.>Learning Sanskrit has nothing to do with

Self-Realization.>To communicate profound truths any language will

do! English is quite>adequate for the job! Where there is the

experience of Truth and Self, >the>words follow like obedient

servants. In fact, for those seeking intensely >to>Know and Realize

their true and original and primal state, the advice to>learn

Sanskrit might be quite irrelevant. Sanskrit, or any other

language>must be mastered through the mind. The Self is Realized by

seeing the>unreality of the mind, by absorbing the mind into the

Heart and >Realization>of Self as Pure Consciousness. When the mind

disappears, so does Sanskrit >or>any other language, the culture one

is born into as well as any and all>conditioning and identification.

The whole universe appears as a shadow >of>the Self, so what can be

said of a particular language, culture, etc. >These>are shadows of

even shadows. How much importance should we give them on

>the>spiritual path. Well, perhaps the answer is, "As much as you

like - it is >up>to you."Let us be clear about this. No particular

language, cultural heritage,religious background, reading of certain

scriptures, or texts is *required*for Self-Realization. What is

needed always is the Direct Knowledge of theSelf through meditation,

self-enquiry, and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Language andculture themselves

are layers from which identification eventually iswithdrawn. All

these things appear in consciousness. Therefore to see thepure state

prior to all language and thought is simplest. I will pass thison to

a as well. Thank you.Love to

allHarsha// All paths go

somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, perceptions,

and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of

Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It

is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the

Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of

Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self.

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